41.
“I don’t want to,” Lancelot had said. Even to his own ears, the tone sounded like the petulant whining of an immature child.
Lancelot, who had nodded with a displeased expression, said nothing further.
I stayed in my place, carefully gauging his mood, when…
‘So that’s why he was avoiding the dance invitation. He was running away.’
Running away. The word was so unbefitting of Lancelot that I let out a small laugh.
The Queen’s rigid expression melted away. It seemed she was quite pleased with Lancelot’s handling of the situation.
“It can’t be helped. In that case, while we wait for the Duke, let us proceed to the next gift.”
As it was the Queen’s birthday celebration, even the Grand Duchess found it difficult to argue.
The Grand Duchess gritted her teeth slightly and stepped back. Judging by the glare she shot at Anita, I suspected the maneuver had been a success.
“It is my turn. Please pray that I do not make a mistake.”
Anita whispered softly to Lady Milena and stood before the Queen.
Dozens of pairs of eyes pierced her cheeks like spears.
Curiosity, interest, disdain, jealousy.
Countless varied emotions were directed at the only person in this place: Anita.
To her, who had risen to the position of Duchess from a humble background.
As if to show them all, the Queen greeted Anita with a voice overflowing with favor.
“I hear this is your debutante, Duchess Edenbahir.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I consider it a great honor to be able to hold my debutante at the Queen’s birthday celebration.”
At those words, the King, who had been sitting quietly, laughed pleasantly.
“I hear you have prepared an incredible gift? I don’t know how much the Queen has been bragging about it. I am looking forward to it.”
While Anita smiled thinly, two attendants brought her gift.
As the painting, covered by a cloth, appeared, the Queen looked slightly disappointed.
“Another painting? I am curious as to what kind of work it is this time.”
When she removed the cloth instead of answering, the crowd at the ballroom gravitated toward them once again.
Simultaneously, a murmur rippled through the entire ballroom like a wave.
“Good heavens, how can this be?”
“Is something wrong with my eyes? Is it not the exact same painting?”
Deep shock washed over the faces of those who confirmed the painting.
The ones who showed the most satisfactory reactions were, without a doubt, the Grand Duchess and the Queen.
“…Are you mocking me? Or is my eye for art so lacking that I cannot distinguish it from Lady Veronica’s work?”
Two pieces featuring the same painting.
The Grand Duchess and the Duchess had gifted two identical works in succession.
Perhaps because it was a completely unexpected situation, the Queen showed signs of anger for the first time since the celebration began.
“It is not the same work, Your Majesty. This is the only original.”
At the bold declaration, the Queen stroked her chin with a subtle expression.
“Does that mean… the painting Lady Veronica brought is a forgery?”
“Coincidentally, that is the case.”
Just then, a loud laugh erupted from among the nobles.
“How amusing!”
It was the Grand Duchess’s laughter.
Walking to Anita’s side with a somewhat nervous gait, the Grand Duchess bowed before the Queen with an apologetic tone.
“I apologize. The new Duchess is so lacking in education that she seems not to know that one must guard their tongue in the presence of His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen. Seeing her make such groundless claims without hesitation proves it.”
Anita did not panic in the slightest and struck back at the Grand Duchess’s disparagement.
“The lie refers to the forgery that the Grand Duchess presented to Her Majesty the Queen as a gift. It is the Grand Duchess herself who has insulted the Royal Family by presenting a forgery to Her Majesty.”
“Insult? Did you just say insult!”
The Grand Duchess’s signature voice, which sounded as if she were chewing on each and every syllable, struck Anita’s eardrums.
“I received this piece directly from Gray Holmes, the artist who painted it. In the hall of my estate, there are as many as six works by Gray Holmes on display. Are you claiming that someone like me would bring a forgery?”
“What a surprising coincidence. I, too, received my piece directly from Gray Holmes. From a young painter currently active in Milena House.”
I met the eyes of Lady Milena, who was standing among the focused nobles.
Her expression was caught between finding the current situation thrilling and being genuinely worried.
“To even have a grasp of the artist’s area of activity… it seems you have prepared quite thoroughly. To think you’d be so fearless, going up against whom…”
“Stop, stop this at once!”
The Queen, unable to watch any longer, mediated between Anita and the Grand Duchess.
“There is no need to fight. To distinguish the original, we simply need to bring the artist, this Gray Holmes. Did you say Milena House? Lord Chamberlain, take the painter to the Royal Palace with Lady Milena.”
“Yes. I shall look into it immediately.”
“Once the artist confirms it in person, we shall know who is lying. Until then, everyone here is to remain silent about today’s events.”
Stepping forward, Anita bowed deeply to the Queen.
“Your Majesty. I request that you please rescind that order.”
“Rescind? Are you saying you intend to broadcast this affair outside the Royal Palace?”
The Queen’s voice, as she asked this, was closer to pure curiosity than a threat.
Judging by her reaction, it seemed she wasn’t sure if the forgery incident was a coincidental overlap or something Anita had intended.
Anita decided to drive a wedge of certainty into the Queen’s doubts.
“Is there any need for more words? I do not wish to become a sinner who has insulted Her Majesty the Queen. Furthermore, as the Duchess of the Edenbahir family, I do not wish to tarnish my husband’s reputation.”
“What do you intend to do?”
“I will sue the Grand Duchess for conspiring against me.”
“What?”
“What is the meaning of this…!”
The Queen let out a small, dry laugh.
The Grand Duchess widened her eyes.
Lady Milena shivered with excitement.
In the dead center of the chaotic ballroom, only Anita remained steadily calm.
“Ah, I suppose me suing an elder would be considered breaking the hierarchy of the family. In that case…”
Anita looked directly at the Grand Duchess and wore a cool smile.
“Let the Grand Duchess sue me.”
Following this, the atmosphere of the Queen’s birthday celebration turned into absolute mayhem.
The Grand Duchess did not take the provocation of a commoner-born Duchess lightly.
An unprecedented situation had occurred: two women of one family, at the Queen’s birthday celebration of all places, were set to stand in court, staking their honor on the line.
In truth.
This entire situation was nothing more than bait to hook ‘George Pager’.
***
George Pager.
A lawyer from Hixen.
The name written on the only note her father had left her.
Also, a person presumed to be one of the judges who would determine whether the investment management rights would be delegated.
Anita had begun her attempts to contact him immediately after the wedding ended.
Anita, who recalled the contents of that note every night, eventually set aside her resolve to look into it once she arrived in Hixen.
At first, she had sent someone through Jill.
George Pager’s reply returned in a single day.
[He says he is too busy to spare any time, and that is all he repeats.]
[…Just how busy could he be that he doesn’t even have time to write a single letter?]
[They say there was no particular sign of him being busy.]
She sent people a few more times after that, but the answer Anita received was always the same.
The answer that he was too busy to meet. That he would contact her later. That he wasn’t feeling well, so they should meet another time.
It was clearly a case of him intentionally avoiding her.
‘Why? Is he not my father’s man?’
From the moment she discovered the note, Anita had harbored hope that George Pager would become her precious ally.
But the situation she faced in reality was the exact opposite.
George Pager’s repeated refusals helped Anita face the cold reality.
‘Right, he is a judge who can decide whether or not to delegate the investment management rights.’
Perhaps even this was part of the evaluation process.
At this rate, she would certainly be rejected in Hixen as well. She needed a justification to drag George Pager out by force.
Around that time, Anita had begun to look into the ledgers of the Edenbahir family.
However, this decision was not Anita’s own will. It was at Jill’s request.
[Please, Duchess. Ever since the late Duke succeeded to the title, people on the Grand Duchess’s side have been managing the property of Edenbahir. Thanks to the Duke dismissing that person just before his passing, we are now able to put someone new in place, but…]
The problem was that Lancelot was so busy externally that there was no room to find a new administrator.
‘To think that not even the late Duke’s people, but the Grand Duchess’s people have been managing the property for decades…’
She didn’t want to disparage the Grand Duchess this way, but it was clear that money was leaking everywhere.
She couldn’t just throw away Lancelot’s money. Without a moment of hesitation, Anita accepted Jill’s request.
That night, upon hearing the news, Lancelot asked her cautiously.
[The royal lessons alone must be overwhelming. Do you have the capacity to check the ledgers?]